Kenai, Homer, and Seward have more in common than merely being cities on the Kenai Peninsula. Culturally, they each share the distinction of having an official sister city in Japan. Kenai is partnered with Akita, Homer with Teshio, and Seward with Obihiro.
In fact, the Kenai Peninsula is home to more Japanese sister cities than any other borough in the state.
To celebrate Japan’s significant relationship with Alaska, the Japanese Consular Office of Alaska based in Anchorage held their 50th anniversary celebration last Friday. The event aimed to celebrate the exchange of ideas, culture, and the incredibly important exchange of commerce between Alaska and Japan.
Greg Wolf, Executive Director of Alaska’s World Trade Center, discussed Alaska’s longstanding trading partnership with Nippon, also known as Japan: “The relationship is long-standing and it’s very important! I’ve been in this business for about 30 years and giving trade presentations to the Alaskans and people around the world, when I was talking about our number one trading partner, I didn’t even have to look at the statistics because I knew it was Japan. That’s been true for many, many decades. Even today, Japan is in our top two or three trading partners. It’s been a major investor in Alaska, and I believe there’s a really bright future!”
Entertainment was also offered, with members of Alaska’s Japanese community performing music during the virtual ceremony. The performances featured an acapella group, soaring violins, as well taiko drums rumbling the computer speakers of all virtual participants.
Japanese snacks sent to invited participants, to enjoy during the ceremony.
Not only did the Consular Office celebrate 50 years in Alaska, but they are further promoting cross-cultural exchanges via a video contest where residents of sister cities, including Kenai, Homer, and Seward, can submit videos with the theme of “Lasting Friendship.” Videos should showcase what makes sister-city relationships so important: the aspects of life on the Kenai that residents consider to be special, worth sharing with Japanese brothers and sisters.
Consul Masaru Aniya, Head of the Japanese Consular office in Anchorage, told KSRM News that the idea for the program came from a Japanese television program called “I Want To Go To Japan! Cheering Squad,” in which a person foreign to Japan is invited to Japan to participate in a hobby they have related to Japan. He believes these cultural exchanges embody what the Alaska-Japan sister city exchanges should feature, and hopes the video contest will encourage that.
Mr. Aniya expressed a great deal of optimism: “We hope that the people of Alaska and Japan will feel closer to their sister cities.”
A full list of submission guidelines can be found online. Essentially, share the best of your community, upload it to YouTube, and their guideline list explains the rest. This is a contest, so with regards to prizes, the Consular office contacted KSRM to say that they have several potential prizes available: a Nintendo Switch Lite gaming console, noise cancelling earbuds, and a virtual reality headset. There will also be instant film cameras offered as runner-up prizes.
The final day to submit a video is Friday, February 26.